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  • 04:00 am

Linedata, the global solutions provider dedicated to the investment management and credit industries, has launched the latest version of Linedata Optima, a powerful, innovative suite of business process management (BPM) tools designed specifically for fund accounting and administration.

BPM tools are operational performance enablers that allow fund administrators to design, monitor and execute end-to-end business processes for increased efficiency. With business operations becoming increasingly exception based and event-driven, intelligent operations require a more responsive approach. Linedata Optima elevates process optimisation by providing oversight, transparency and operational risk management capabilities within the back-office operations.

Following the successful development and roll-out of earlier modules (Event Monitor and Process Monitor), this release sees the inclusion of a new component, Linedata Optima Workflow, designed to empower the end user. As a SMART back-office solution, this new workflow component delivers an abundance of new functionality; with the capacity to provide the end user, on a single screen, landing page or home page, the information required to effectively perform their role, including a daily diary.

Linedata Optima Workflow can act as an online procedures manual; always up-to-date as it is based on processes that are in operational use. Linedata Optima’s procedural capability includes storing data for each process completion and this insight can be used for KPI analysis and process improvement. The processes can be documented as a step-by-step diagram using the Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) standard, including additional notes. This stored data is also available for audit purposes.

Francois Pradel, Global Product Manager for Fund Services at Linedata, says: “This new release offers enhancements that help our clients achieve higher levels of operational efficiency, adapt to new requirements, and manage the increased regulatory burden, all without disruption to their core business.”

“In an environment where process and cost efficiency are of paramount importance and ‘systems and controls’ are the fixation of numerous regulators, intermediaries need to keep a close eye on intraday workflow,” says Virginie O’Shea, research director at Aite Group. “Solutions and services that enable operations teams and executives to track and quantify workflow patterns, bottlenecks, or errors can aid process improvement and client responsiveness, as well as providing regulators with proof that all reasonable steps are being taken to meet systems and controls requirements.”

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  • 01:00 am

Conexant, a leading provider of audio and voice technology solutions that enable a more natural user experience, today announced that it is collaborating with Baidu to release development kits and reference designs for device makers to develop far-field voice-enabled artificial intelligent (AI) devices running on Baidu's DuerOS platform. The development kits and reference designs will be powered by Conexant's CX20924 4-microphone and CX20921 2-microphone voice input processing solutions. DuerOS is a conversation-based AI system that already supports access to a voice-activated digital assistant for mobile phones, TVs, speakers, and other devices.

The collaboration is aimed at helping developers and device-makers integrate DuerOS into their own products. Conexant is the de facto far-field solution for voice-enabled products today, and through this partnership, Baidu and Conexant are establishing a high-performance standard for AI devices to come.

Enabling speech recognition and voice control from a distance requires overcoming substantial acoustic challenges related to echo cancellation, background noise, position of microphones, speaker placement and more. The 2-mic and 4-mic development kits for DuerOS will help shorten time-to-market of conversation-based AI devices with high-performance noise cancellation and far-field voice capability.  

"Conexant brings a valuable asset to Baidu and third-party product developers looking to create innovative applications for the DuerOS AI platform," said Kun Jing, General Manager of Baidu Duer Business Unit. "Voice interface is a critical part of DuerOS and we are committed to working closely with Conexant to quickly grow the DuerOS ecosystem by offering product developers a solution to help them quickly fulfill consumer demand for top-performing AI-infused devices. We're working closely with Conexant to ensure their voice solutions provide optimal speech recognition performance with our AI system and are excited to provide device makers tools to jumpstart the creation of new hardware applications."

The core component in the announced development kits is Conexant's AudioSmart(r) voice input processor (CX20924 for 4-mic applications, and CX20921 for 2-mic applications) running its industry-leading far-field voice pre-processing software technology. Conexant's far-field voice input processors focus on the user's voice and remove echoes and noise from the audio signal to provide the DuerOS cloud AI platform clear voice requests for speech recognition processing. Conexant's market-proven voice processing provides a consistently accurate AI experience.

Key benefits of the Conexant AudioSmart voice input processors include:

  • Robust far-field voice interaction with two or four microphones 
  • Proprietary Smart Source Locator™ technology identifies the direction from which the user's voice is coming (4-mic only) 
  • Enhanced Smart Source Pickup noise suppression improves speech recognition performance by filtering non-stationary TV noise and voices coming from sources other than the user out of the audio signal 
  • Voice barge-in enabled by full duplex acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) detects the wake word even when the device is playing music or voice prompts loudly

"The voice revolution is a global phenomenon. By working with Baidu we help more third-party manufacturers bring to market innovative voice-enabled AI devices with an exceptional conversational AI experience," said Saleel Awsare, President of Conexant. "The launch of DuerOS development kits and reference designs will drastically reduce development time and cost, allowing manufacturers to quickly bring their innovative ideas to market."

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  • 06:00 am

InstaReM, one of the leading digital cross-border payments companies, has received a US$13 million investment led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Emerging Asia Financial Sector Fund (SBI-FMO Fund), Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH), and Global Founders Capital (GFC). 

To date, InstaReM has raised over US$18 million in the last 18 months.

InstaReM will use the investment to build its global payment infrastructure, which has grown eight times in volume since its March 2016 funding. The funds will also be used to develop new products and licensing activities in new markets.

On the close of its Series B funding, Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO of InstaReM, said, "This is an important investment for the company to propel our next phase of growth and expansion. With GSR Venture's strong network in China and the US, coupled with SBI-FMO Fund's strong base in Japan and other emerging markets, we believe we have found the best partners for this phase of our journey."

"We aim to make cross-border payments a level playing field for all operators in the eco-system. So, regardless if our client is a bank, telco, mobile wallet or a money transfer operator (MTO) - by accessing our payment infrastructure, they are able to send payments to over 50 markets with full transparency on cost and destination amount, enabling them to compete with global players," added Prajit.

InstaReM caters to both business and individual money transfers and has been listed by World Bank as the most cost efficient across several corridors.

Global Expansion Plans

By Q4 2017, InstaReM will expand into all markets in Europe and the United States.

Along with the expansion into Europe, the company will be implementing a new payment system to significantly speed up Euro payment transfers from 24 hours to less than 10 seconds across 34 member countries.

Jefferson Chen, Partner at GSR Ventures, said, "The global payments infrastructure InstaReM is building is unique in this industry and GSR Ventures is excited to join this journey."

Suramya Gupta, Fund Manager at SBI-FMO Fund, said, "We are excited to partner with the InstaReM team to jointly build the leading regional cross-border digital payments platform. We look forward to plugging InstaReM into our global ecosystem of Fintech and financial service companies." 

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  • 03:00 am

Twenty Thirty, a Swiss blockchain innovation company, has launched the Pillar project, which will raise money through a Token Sale on Saturday July 15 2017 to create the next-generation crypto wallet.  The Pillar Wallet will hold people’s assets and become their personal digital assistant powering all of their devices.

The Pillar project is the brainchild of David Siegel, whose 2010 book, Pull (Penguin), described a future with no apps and with the personal data locker at the centre of people’s lives.  David Siegel, a serial entrepreneur and business expert who spent 20 years in Silicon Valley said, “There are a lot of platforms now, and those platforms mostly belong to companies.  But what if you had your own secure personal platform?  What if you had a digital assistant that did everything for you without having to go to each app, log in, and work within that silo?  And what if no company owned that platform?”

The Pillar project will start as an open-source digital wallet to hold all assets - health records, financial records, money, ownership of things, resume, and much more.  All the ownership will be on various blockchains, with an individual’s password, replacing numerous accounts.  Then, the personal assistant will help find what people are looking for and interact with many digital services automatically.  As people travel, buy things, eat, consume media, use services - the personal data locker will pay its way ‘as you go’, without having to log into hundreds of apps.

The Pillar system will use its own native utility token, called the pillar (symbol: PLR).  The pillar is a meta-token.  As David Siegel says, “The current Token Sale craze means that tokens are going to be everywhere, used for everything from identity to energy to coffee to golf.

“The Pillar wallet manages all those tokens for you ‘automagically,’ so you only see and deal with pillars, even though there could be hundreds of tokens underneath.  By launching a meta-token, we’re telling consumers they will have a single interface into their digital lives.

“We’re starting with a wallet, but we’re aiming for iOS and Android. Look at your phone - all your apps are miniature desktop apps that trap your data and keep your credit-card number on their servers.  The apps don’t talk to each other, so when you want to do something, you end up using several apps.

“The Pillar system has no apps.  It uses tokens, smart contracts, and a growing ecosystem of online services that let you pull the information you want, find what you’re looking for, buy what you need, manage the ownership, and interact with hundreds of other systems easily.

“Walk into a new doctor’s office - all the paperwork, test results, prescriptions, billing, and insurance are taken care of automatically, without filling out any forms.  We envision all consumer devices and wearables being powered by the Pillar wallet.

“Because the data is decentralised and stored in secure blockchains, it is of little interest to hackers, providing high-level security.”

Entrepreneur Richard D Titus, a USA-based adviser said, “Pillar will be the new platform for digital natives.  It’s open-source, and it replaces the Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook domination of our devices.  This is a world changer.” 

Pillar is staffed by a group of over 30 global volunteers, who are part of the Twenty Thirty blockchain community.  As well as David Siegel, the founders include Tomer Sofinzon from Israel, Yogesh Gaikwad from India and Vitor Py from Brazil. Advisors to the project include USA-based Kirt McMaster, Phil Windley and Kaliya Hamlin plus Efi Pylarinou, from Switzerland, and UK-based Anish Mohammed and Thomas Power.

The Pillar Token Sale plans to raise $25 to $50 million to build their open-source personal-data ecosystem.  The Token Sale will take place over 60 hours, from 1:00 AM GMT on July 15 to 1:00 PM GMT on July 17 2017.  After a successful Token Sale, the team will set up the UK’s first blockchain-only innovation centre in London.  The Pillar project (http://pillarproject.io) web site is now open.

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  • 02:00 am

Liquid Voice, one of the leading providers of interaction recording, quality management and analytics, has announced the immediate availability of an innovative new solution that will help organisations to comply with GDPR which comes into effect in May 2018.  It fully integrates into the Liquid Voice platform or can be specified as a stand-alone application for use with any of the market’s other leading interaction recording brands, providing greater access and control over personal customer data that is captured, processed or stored.

According to Chris Berry, Managing Director of Liquid Voice (UK):  “GDPR will have a significant impact on organisations of every size that store personal customer data and failure to comply with this new regulatory requirement could result in fines of up to €20 million.  Liquid Voice is one of the first companies to offer a cost effective solution that delivers unrivalled access to customer data wherever it is stored.  It can be cost-effectively deployed on a monthly subscription basis, which eliminates the need for high upfront capital expenditure.”

The Liquid Voice system enables organisations to quickly accommodate customer requests to identify, access and, if required, delete personal data.  This ‘right to be forgotten’ is a central part of GDPR and can be achieved using the company’s recently launched Automated Speech Transcription which enables recordings to be searched for any word or phrase in seconds.  Search results, which can include inbound/outbound calls, emails, SMS, instant messaging, social media and letters sent to customers, are displayed as text summaries ranked by relevance.  Recordings are automatically transcribed into text making the review process substantially faster than traditional manual scanning processes.

Liquid Voice also provides a solution for organisations using legacy recording platforms that are no longer supported by the manufacturer.  Historical recordings from these old systems can be quickly and easily migrated to a current platform without any data loss.

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  • 02:00 am

Cloud-based core-banking provider Ohpen has secured a € 15 million Series B investment round led by private equity firm Amerborgh to accelerate international growth.

Ohpen, founded in 2009, is a cloud-based core-banking engine, built for the efficient administration of retail investment and savings accounts.

Since Ohpen signed and implemented its first Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) client in 2012, Ohpen has become market leader in The Netherlands.  Enterprise clients like Aegon and De Volksbank have signed long term outsourcing contracts for the administration and servicing of retail investment and savings accounts.

Ohpen opened an office in London last year and signed its first client in the United Kingdom which is being implemented this year.

The UK Platform market currently undergoes radical changes caused by new regulations and issues related to legacy systems and providers. Ohpen is well positioned to assist financial institutions in coping with these challenges and seizing opportunities.

The current investment round of € 15 million values Ohpen at € 100 million. The growth capital will be used to finance UK expansion and enter new markets.

 “The first step, back in 2009, was to actually develop a whole new core banking engine and offering it as SaaS using cloud technology”, says founder and CEO Chris Zadeh. “The second step was to get a client and create a strong home base. After becoming the number one player in our home market, we knew it was time to enter new markets and truly scale up the company.”

 

 

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  • 04:00 am

Yolt, a new money platform backed by ING, one of the leading banks in Europe, has launched its open beta today for iOS and Android, offering users across the UK access to a new way of managing their money smartly and intuitively. The app has been tested and improved in closed beta since October last year, and is now ready to invite more people to the platform. Yolt brings the UK market one step closer to Open Banking.

Yolt enables users to view their bank accounts and credit cards in one place, see what shops they’re spending the most (and the most often) with, set budgets and plan for upcoming debits – giving them a real view of how much money they have until payday, without the hassle of trawling through their transactions manually. The aim of the app is to challenge the status quo of money management, taking away the pain of managing finances, and allowing people to save time and enjoy life more by focusing on money management less. Yolt will partner with other fintechs to add exciting new features to the app, starting today with an energy price comparison offering.

Frank Jan Risseeuw, CEO, Yolt, comments:

“In modern life, the phrase ‘time is money’ has never felt more apt. But fewer people have either the time or the desire to actually look after their money effectively. Instant gratification is the norm - people want convenience, speed, and customisation. Yolt understands that. We’re a mobile app, designed to change the way people think about their finances, and harness the power of open banking to make it easier for people to focus on the other things in life.”

Pauline van Brakel, Head of Strategy & Marketing, Yolt, adds:

“At Yolt, we make managing your money clear, understandable and, whisper it – even enjoyable - so users can make the most of life. Yolt provides a new way of thinking about money, giving people the power to take control and make smart decisions.

“Everyone has their own habits and routines, especially when it comes to saving, spending and budgeting. Over the last 16 months we’ve spoken to people about what matters most to them, building on their insights to create the best version of Yolt possible. We’re inspired by the lives and stories of our users, and want to create solutions based on those real life situations within our app.”

This is just the start of an exciting journey for Yolt. Both the app and the proposition are continually being reviewed and enhanced to ensure users get the most relevant, useful features for them. The app is now available to download on the app store for iOS users, and the Google Play store for Android users. To find out more, visit www.yolt.com.

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  • 04:00 am

Spire Payments and its official Russian distributor Lanter have developed an innovative mobile POS solution to capture transportation and municipal payments in major cities throughout the Russian Federation. The initiative is spearheaded by Sberbank, the market-leading acquiring bank in the region and is driven by the desire to expand into new market sectors. This ground-breaking initiative has just been deployed in four major cities: Sankt Petersburg, Kazan, Saratov, Krasnodar, and is the start of an aggressive roll-out programme throughout the Russian Federation.

The solution comprises of a number of key components. Payments are accepted on Spire Payments’ latest mobile POS platform: the SPg7. This extremely powerful, compact and secure (PCI 4.x) device operates over the GPRS mobile network and seamlessly processes chip & PIN, contactless and NFC transactions including PayPass, payWave, AndroidPay, ApplePay, SamsungPay, and GooglePay.

Lanter developed the bespoke application which resides on the SPg7 to allow processing of specific cards including local transportation and payment programmes. To allow the estate to be securely managed to the highest industry standards, Lanter also provide key injection and remote terminal management capabilities utilising Spire Payments’ market-leading application suite.  

Sberbank has over 16 thousand branches across the Russian Federation and offers a wide range of services including traditional deposits, money transfers, bank insurance and brokerage services. Sberbank is also the largest issuer of debit and credit cards and supports over one million enterprises.

Tai- Kei Cheung, President Spire Payments: ‘We are extremely excited with this announcement since this is Spire Payments’ first major project in the Russian Federation. Even more significant is Sberbank decided to utilise our market-leading technology and well-respected in-country partner Lanter over the competition. This project is an early indicator our aggressive geographical expansion plans are starting to gain traction and is the first of many announcements in the coming months.’

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  • 07:00 am

Niu Solutions, a leading provider of managed IT services, partnered with Virgin Money to further enhance the lender’s intermediary mortgage portal.

Virgin Money appointed Niu Solutions to support its plans for digital transformation in response to the changing needs of its intermediary clients. The project saw Virgin Money develop its Mortgage Lab which sought to innovate and make the mortgage application process more efficient. 

Niu virtualised the existing VMO (Virgin Money Online) mortgage application and created the VMIP (Virgin Money Intermediary Portal), allowing its intermediary clients to quickly and easily access the portal via any web browser, on any device. The optimised portal allows its clients to make decisions on borrowing more quickly and efficiently than before, and acts as a mobile ‘one-stop-shop’ for their intermediary needs.

The flexible interface hosts all levels of an intermediary’s work, including risk and compliance monitoring, mortgage checks, and incorporates the latest updates on rates and products, coupled with features such as affordability calculators. 

Niu was able to begin implementing the VMIP in just three months; enabling Virgin Money to improve its service with minimal impact to its operations while maintaining the highest level of security and compliance standards.

Commentating on the partnership, Peter Gee, Managing Director at Niu Solutions said:

“Virgin Money’s aim of delivering a competitive proposition for intermediaries and improving the quality of its service to offer its customers, is underpinned by its adoption of innovative technology. Virgin’s collaborative approach has allowed us to offer our expertise and support its digitalisation plans from start to finish. We are extremely pleased to have helped Virgin Money harness the power of technology, and to have launched its portal as fast as possible, with no interruption to the day-to-day work of mortgage intermediaries.”

Peter Rogerson, Director of Mortgages at Virgin Money said: “Promoting the importance of advisors, championing the cause of intermediaries and building strong relationships with partners are all key components of Virgin Money’s mortgage proposition. Niu was able to create a place where intermediaries can carry out their core work simply and easily, on the go, and with the support and functionality they needed.”

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  • 02:00 am

Logical Glue, the cloud-based software company that helps the financial services and insurance industry reduce risk and increase profits with insightful and faster data-driven decisions, has closed a major private investment from UK entrepreneur Tom Singh. The investment will allow Logical Glue to expand its cloud-based machine learning and statistical modelling platform, further developing its patented “white box” decision-making engine and data visualisation tools.

Logical Glue is a trusted partner to financial service companies large and small, from lending to insurance. It helps businesses reduce risk, increase profits and deliver a better customer experience, with fast time to value. Logical Glue is helping Lenders increase acceptance rates by 40 per cent, increase profits by typically 5-20 per cent, decrease default rates by 15 per cent and increase recovery collection rates for debt collectors by 18 per cent. In addition, it has reduced manual interventions for underwriters twenty-fold.

Tom Singh OBE, the founder of fashion retailer New Look and a leading UK entrepreneur, has invested in Logical Glue. Tom says: “Logical Glue provides a straightforward and accessible Machine Learning platform for Lenders and insurance providers, delivering faster and more accurate decisions that will underpin increased productivity and profitability. Logical Glue really bridges the gap between data science and the boardroom. Fast, accurate and automated decisions based on data have a place within many industries, from retail through to finance.”

Logical Glue’s Machine Learning platform is becoming the go-to platform for data scientists and business users alike. For data scientists, the platform is an intuitive solution that dramatically cuts down the time to build highly accurate predictive models. It also provides essential tools to rapidly hypothesise and test modelling sensitivities. For business users, it is the graphical interface, providing straightforward visualisation of complex data relationships. It allows a deeper understanding of business outcomes and the classification of data between important influencers and noise that has little impact on outcomes.

Logical Glue’s platform is the first code-free platform that can build three different types of predictive models for making better decisions: neural networks, logistic regression and fuzzy logic models. In a few minutes, advanced solutions can be created which enhance insight, accuracy and flexibility on existing predictive models. Models can easily be integrated into existing platforms and data workflows using Logical Glue’s API, allowing models to be deployed to production far quicker than the norm.

Daniel McPherson, co-Founder at Logical Glue, comments: “Logical Glue is delivering the Machine Learning platform of the future – a platform that will make a significant difference to financial services organisations and beyond by delivering better, faster decisions and providing the consumer with the best customer experience.”

 

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